What Happened?
The Eagles scored 28 points in the first quarter of last night's game and never looked back, setting a team record for yardage and scoring their most points in a single game since 1934. Michael Vick passed for over 300 yards, threw four touchdowns and rushed for two more.
The Good:
Michael Vick looked like he was playing a video game. He completed 20 of 28 passes for 333 yards and four touchdowns. He also ran for 80 yards and two more touchdowns, making him the first quarterback in NFL history to pass for over 300 yards, rush for over 50 yards, throw four touchdowns and rush for two more in a single game.
Jerome Harrison carried the ball 11 times for 109 yards and his first touchdown as an Eagle on a 50 yard run in the first quarter.
LeSean McCoy only carried the ball 11 times for 43 yards, but he also caught five passes for 51 yards and a touchdown.
DeSean Jackson started the game off with an 88 yard touchdown catch, and while he only had one other catch for ten yards, that was all that was needed.
Jeremy Maclin caught four passes for 79 yards and had a 48 yard touchdown catch that started the second quarter. It was his seventh touchdown of the year.
Jason Avant had five catches for 76 yards and a touchdown.
The Eagles only managed to sack Donovan McNabb twice, but had him under pressure almost the entire game, and forced three interceptions.
Dimitri Patterson intercepted two of McNabb's passes, running one back for a 40 yard touchdown that capped the scoring.
The Eagles forced the Redskins to go 0-10 on third downs, and held the ball for almost 40 minutes.
The Eagles only had six penalties called against them for just 35 yards.
The Bad:
Brent Celek only caught two passes for eight yards. He's been a nonfactor this entire season.
The defense did look a little soft at times, allowing 28 points on some deep throws by McNabb. Plus, some guy named Keiland Williams scored three touchdowns.
The Eagles didn't score 60 points. I wanted to see that.
The Ugly:
Nothing to see here. The Eagles just blew out a division opponent and can control first place with a win on Sunday.
The Breakdown:
All you needed to know about last night's game came on the first play. Backed up at their own 12 yard line, the Philadelphia Eagles came out and ran a play action fake to LeSean McCoy. Michael Vick had protection and ran out to the left, then launched a pass to DeSean Jackson that Jackson caught in stride at the Washington 35 yard line. LaRon Landry fell down attempting a tackle, and Jackson walked backwards into the end zone from ten yards out. Eighteen seconds into the game, the Eagles had a 7-0 lead, and it was all downhill from there for the Redskins, while the Eagles were just starting a historic night.
The first five times that the Eagles had the ball on offense, they found the end zone, and each one of the scores came either from the arm or the leg of Michael Vick. There is literally nothing else that can be said about this man right now. If you're an Eagles fan, you may hate what he did in the past, you may never like him as a person, but you have to admit that he is one hell of a football player. Last night may have been Vick's best showing ever as a professional player, and that's including his time down in Atlanta. Throughout this season, we've been able to see Vick evolve as a quarterback, and last night may have been the culmination of that evolution.
As a member of the Falcons, Vick's progression in the pocket was pretty much for him to look at his primary receiver, then Alge Crumpler, then run if both of them were covered. Last night, you could see Vick actually looking for each receiver on a play before he thought about running the football. Even when he did scramble in the pocket, he was still looking downfield, trying to find a receiver to pass to. When there wasn't anyone open, Vick tucked it and ran, which he did to the tune of 80 yards and two touchdowns. So far this season, Vick has 11 passing touchdowns, four rushing touchdowns, has completed 62.7% of his passes and hasn't thrown an interception. Those numbers are in just five and a half games. Could you imagine what they might be at had Vick played a full game against the Redskins in the first game, and not had to miss the games against the Falcons, Titans and 49ers? He might not just be in the talk for MVP this season, he could be leading it.
Of course, Vick is just one player on the offense, and despite his amazing night, it was a total team effort against the Washington defense. Four different players caught touchdown passes, and Jerome Harrison showed why he might be the best number two running back in the NFC with his first 100 yard game as an Eagle. LeSean McCoy had some issues running the ball, but had over 50 yards receiving and caught a touchdown on a shovel pass in that first quarter. DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin and Jason Avant all had over 70 receiving yards and a touchdown, and the Eagles controlled the ball for almost 40 minutes on offense, setting a franchise record for yards, and most of them came before the fourth quarter.
On the other side of the ball, the defense has to get some credit for allowing the offense to get out to that big lead. The Redskins went three and out on their opening drive, which led to the second touchdown of the game. On the next Washington drive, Donovan McNabb was intercepted by rookie Kurt Coleman, who started in place of the injured Nate Allen. The Eagles scored again to put themselves up 21-0. The next two Washington drives also ended in three and outs, and the Eagles turned them both into touchdowns. Before the Redskins got a single first down, the Eagles had scored 35 points. That's how a defense can make an impact without getting many turnovers. McNabb was under pressure for most of the night, and while the Eagles only managed two sacks against him, he still looked like the same McNabb in pressure, as passes were flying over the heads of receivers or skidding at their feet. I'm not going to talk about the extension that McNabb just signed, but if that was his response to it, the Redskins might want to get their money back quickly.
Now, the defense wasn't perfect all night long. After the Eagles went up 35-0, they allowed back to back scoring drives thanks to long passes from McNabb to Fred Davis and Anthony Armstrong. It turned out to not be an area of concern, but the Eagles did show a little bit of weakness there. At the time of the pass to Davis, there were still almost three quarters of football left to be played. The Eagles had already scored four touchdowns in a quarter, so why couldn't the Redskins? That killer instinct wasn't there at times, and while the margin of victory makes it seem like it didn't matter, against a team with a better defense, it will. The run defense was solid again, but the secondary still needs to step it up more. Dimitri Patterson had a good game with two interceptions, but he also got burned on a couple of passes as well. Patterson is better than Ellis Hobbs, but the Eagles are going to have to address the cornerback situation in the offseason. Opposing teams can pick on the corner opposite Asante Samuel all day long.
Honestly, this was one of the better games that I have ever gotten to watch as an Eagles fan during the regular season. With everything that went into the first Redskins/Eagles matchup, and the result that came out of it, I was just hoping that the Eagles would be able to split the season series with the Redskins. What happened instead was something out of a video game. I mean that literally, I have played games of Madden that looked like that game last night. Michael Vick is on another planet right now, and needs to be resigned as quickly as possible. Imagine saying that at this point last year. The offense may be the fastest in the NFL, and the defense just needs to do enough to let the offense score points.
If you look at the schedule for the Eagles, these past two games and the next two upcoming games might be the toughest stretch for the team this season. They had to play the Colts, go to Washington for a rematch with the Redskins, then take on the Giants and Bears, two first place teams. Well, so far the Eagles are 2-0 on that stretch and are looking more and more like one of the better teams in the NFC. When you couple that with the fact that they beat the Falcons with Kevin Kolb at quarterback and DeSean Jackson missing most of the game, this team could be a big factor going into the last half of the season. I'm not saying anything else yet, because this coming game against the Giants will be the measuring stick for the rest of the year. New York got embarrassed at home against the Cowboys last week, possibly because they were looking ahead to this game with the Eagles, and now the game is for first place in the NFC East with just six games to play following the game. It's as much of a must win for both teams as it can possibly be.
Now, if the Eagles can put forth even 75% of what they showed on Monday Night, they'll be in business. This season could turn out to be something else, but it's not there yet. There are still steps to be taken. Remember, last night was just one game. Sure, the Eagles scored the most points that they'd scored since 1934, but that's not going to get them to the playoffs. Winning the rest of their games is going to do that. It's one game at a time from here on out.
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